1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interchangeable lens type digital camera, and more particularly, to an interchangeable lens type digital camera provided with an automatic focusing control device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, as an autofocus (AF) mechanism of an AF single-lens reflex camera of an interchangeable lens type which uses a silver halide film or is of a digital type, a through-the-lens (TTL) phase difference AF mechanism is used in many cases. In the TTL phase difference AF system, a defocus detection mechanism for AF is provided in the camera main body. Further, a focus lens in the interchangeable lens is driven by a motor inside the lens or inside the camera on the basis of a defocus amount detected by the defocus detection mechanism, whereby a focusing control operation is performed. Further, in a compact digital camera, video camera, and the like, so-called hill-climbing AF for performing contrast detection by using high-frequency components of a signal of an image pickup device is often employed. The TTL phase difference AF and the hill-climbing AF have their own characteristics; for example, the TTL phase difference AF is characterized by its higher speed, and the hill-climbing AF is characterized by its higher accuracy. Thus, the TTL phase difference AF and the hill-climbing AF are used for their appropriate purposes.
As a technique associated with AF in which the TTL phase difference AF and the hill-climbing AF are combined with each other, in, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 7-43605, a technique for performing focusing control by combining the hill-climbing AF and the TTL phase difference AF with each other is disclosed. That is, in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 7-43605, coarse focusing control is performed by using the phase difference AF, and thereafter fine focusing control is performed by using the hill-climbing AF. Further, in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2006-23653, it is disclosed that a drive control sequence, more specifically, drive direction or the like of a focus lens is changed depending on whether the in-focus position detected by the TTL phase difference AF is within a scan drive range of the hill-climbing AF or out of the scan drive range of the hill-climbing AF.